Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory 1891-2020 Means and Extremes
Temperature, Precipitation, Snowfall, and Wind Measurements
Weather in New England is rarely “normal”, but the tables below show the average monthly weather conditions at the Blue Hill Observatory for the 130-year period from 1891-2020. Extremes are shown for the full period of record, 1885-Present, except peak wind gusts, which are for 1940-Present.
Temperature (oF) |
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Month |
Average Maximum |
Average Minimum |
Mean |
Record Highest (Year) |
Record Lowest (Year) |
January |
33.8 |
18.5 |
25.9 |
68 (1950, 2020) |
-16 (1957) |
February |
35.1 |
19.1 |
26.6 |
71 (2017) |
-21 (1934) |
March |
43.5 |
27.0 |
34.5 |
89 (1998) |
-5 (1950) |
April |
55.0 |
36.6 |
44.9 |
94 (1976) |
6 (1923) |
May |
66.4 |
46.5 |
55.5 |
96 (2017) |
27 (1911) |
June |
74.7 |
55.6 |
64.3 |
99 (1919) |
36 (1945) |
July |
80.2 |
61.7 |
70.0 |
100 (1977) |
44 (1988) |
August |
78.2 |
60.5 |
68.3 |
101 (1949,1975) |
39 (1965) |
September |
71.1 |
53.7 |
61.5 |
99 (1953) |
28 (1914) |
October |
60.6 |
43.6 |
51.3 |
88 (1963) |
21 (1922, 1928,1936) |
November |
48.9 |
33.8 |
40.7 |
81 (1950) |
5 (1932) |
December |
37.7 |
23.2 |
30.1 |
74 (1998) |
-19 (1933) |
Year |
57.1 |
40.0 |
47.8 |
101 (1949,1975) |
-21 (1934) |
Precipitation (inches) |
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Month |
Mean |
Record Highest (Year) |
Record Lowest (Year) |
24 Hour Maximum (Year) |
January |
4.24 |
11.61 (1979) |
0.89 (1955) |
3.10 (1889) |
February |
3.99 |
9.32 (1969) |
0.71 (1987) |
4.85 (1886) |
March |
4.59 |
18.81 (2010) |
0.06 (1915) |
6.62 (1968) |
April |
4.14 |
10.37 (1987) |
0.92 (1892) |
3.47 (2004) |
May |
3.67 |
10.10 (2006) |
0.50 (1944) |
5.02 (1984) |
June |
3.80 |
17.32 (1998) |
0.14 (1999) |
6.10 (1998) |
July |
3.62 |
11.67 (1938) |
0.13 (1952) |
4.67 (1979) |
August |
4.02 |
18.78 (1955) |
0.53 (1981) |
9.93 (1955) |
September |
3.92 |
12.37 (1999) |
0.41 (2014) |
5.86 (1961) |
October |
4.14 |
14.72 (2005) |
0.22 (1924) |
7.41 (1996) |
November |
4.34 |
10.31 (2018) |
0.55 (1976) |
5.06 (1955) |
December |
4.46 |
12.60 (1969) |
0.92 (1955) |
5.68 (1969) |
Year |
48.92 |
71.00 (1998) |
26.96 (1965) |
9.93 (1955) |
Snowfall, Ice Pellets (inches) |
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Month |
Mean |
Record Highest (Year) |
Record Lowest (Year) |
24-Hour Maximum (Year) |
January |
16.3 |
56.3 (1948) |
0.7 (1980) |
28.3 (2015) |
February |
16.8 |
83.6 (2015) |
0.4 (1937) |
28.2 (1969) |
March |
12.0 |
52.0 (1956) |
T (1921) |
27.2 (1960) |
April |
4.1 |
24.2 (1996) |
0 |
15.1 (1996) |
May |
0.1 |
7.8 (1977) |
0 |
7.8 (1977) |
June |
0.0 |
T (1907) |
0 |
T (1907) |
July |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
August |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
September |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
October |
0.4 |
8.5 (2011) |
0 |
6.8 (1979) |
November |
3.3 |
23.0 (1898) |
0 |
16.0 (1898) |
December |
11.5 |
45.2 (1945) |
0 |
21.0 (1960) |
Season |
62.3 |
150.8 (2014-15) |
12.6 (1936-37) |
29.0 (1997)a |
a The 24-hour maximum snowfall of 29.0 inches occurred on March 31 and April 1, 1997 without surpassing either monthly record.
Wind Speed, Wind Direction, Peak Gusts (mph) |
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Month |
Mean Wind Speed |
Mean Wind Direction |
Peak Gust a |
Peak Gust Direction (Year) |
January |
16.5 |
WNW |
101b |
SE (1978) |
February |
16.6 |
WNW |
102b |
S (1970) |
March |
16.4 |
WNW |
102b |
S (1942) |
April |
15.7 |
WNW |
83 |
NW (1977) |
May |
14.0 |
W |
83 |
NE (1967) |
June |
13.1 |
SW |
86b |
WNW (1946) |
July |
12.2 |
SW |
110b |
NW (1942) |
August |
12.0 |
WSW |
125 |
SE (1954) |
September |
13.0 |
WSW |
186a,c |
S (1938) |
October |
14.5 |
W |
81 |
S (1976) |
November |
15.6 |
W |
96b |
SSE (1951) |
December |
16.1 |
WNW |
95 |
S (1966) |
Year |
14.6 |
W |
186a |
S (1938) |
a Peak wind gusts are for the period 1940-Present, except for the calculated gust from the 1938 Hurricane.
b Peak wind gust estimated from available Blue Hill wind measurements.
c The second highest wind gust for September was 140 mph, SSE in 1960.